Recommended Books

A Good Start in Life: Understanding Your Child's Brain and Behavior from Birth to Age 6

By:
Norbert Herschkowitz,
Elinore Chapman Herschkowitz

This book is an engaging, reader-friendly work which guides parents through the formative years of a child's life. This well-regarded book is now available in paperback, newly revised to reflect the most recent studies. The new edition features information from the latest research, including traumatic events in the news, television and learning skills, physical activity, and temperament.

With a specific focus on the brain, the book takes the reader through specific phases of child development beginning with Life in the Womb an going through the first six years of life. Each chapter ends with a section "To Think About," addressing such practical matters as good-night rituals, reading books together and coping with conflict.

Beyond Baby Talk: From Sounds to Sentences, A Parent's Complete Guide to Language Development

By:
Kenn Apel,
Julie Masterson

The first five years of a child's life are the most critical for speech and language development, and, as a parent, you are your child's primary language role model. So what are the best ways to help your child develop the all-important skill of communication? Inside, you'll discover all of the essential steps and checkpoints from birth through age five, tips to help your child progress on schedule, and easy methods to:

Evaluate and monitor your child's language development

Understand and deal with environmental impacts such as television and cultural styles

Designed for parents who suspect their child may have some type of communication problem. Explains what is considered 'normal' for a child's development then describes symptoms of various common disorders. Demonstrates how to distinguish between a problem that will probably be outgrown, from one that requires outside help. Also explains how to get help, what tests are likely to be done and how to understand the diagnosis. Includes activities parents can do with their children at home to help them progress.

All children go through periods of saying "ting" for "thing" or "feets" for "feet," and no two children learn to speak on exactly the same schedule. This informative, reassuring guide helps parents and teachers identify normal speech development and potential problems, with advice on when and where to seek help, how to support your child's prescribed speech program, and how to lessen the risk of speech or language difficulties. Easy-to-understand question-and-answer format; guidelines for assessing your child's speech and language development; practical strategies for coping with stuttering, poor listening or memory skills, vocal fatigue or hoarseness, ear infections and hearing and much more; and ways to enhance speech and language development that both you and your child will enjoy.

This book provides teachers and other education professionals with essential information on language development and disorders that will enable them to identify and effectively teach children with language difficulties. The first section of this book presents updated research on language and language development with a focus on application to school-age students. The second section analyzes the language difficulties associated with specific disability types, including a new chapter on the language difficulties of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. The third section of the text focuses on contemporary assessment and instructional strategies. Several newer approaches, including FastForWord are discussed. The emphasis throughout is on instructional techniques that are firmly grounded in research. For anyone involved in the education of children with communication disabilities, speech therapist, school teachers.

Every parent eagerly awaits the day his or her child will speak for the first time. For millions of mothers and fathers, however, anticipation turns to anxiety when those initial, all-important words are a long time coming. Many worried parents are reassured that their child is "just a late talker," but unfortunately, that is not always the case.